OLYMPIA - Sixth District lawmakers have been busy with several pieces of legislation this past session that address issues ranging from health care benefits to foreclosure protection and requiring legal counsel for victims of violent crimes.
Sen. Jeff Holy's (R-Cheney) bill to help health care workers with benefits during the pandemic successfully passed the House of Representatives on April 8, although several changes were made for the version that passed the Senate on Feb. 25 with a 34-15 vote. The House passed it 84-14.
Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5190 would extend unemployment-insurance eligibility to health-care workers who must leave work to quarantine during a public-health emergency. The bipartisan proposal also would provide presumptive workers' compensation coverage for health-care workers who contract the disease that is the subject of a public-health emergency.
"I'm glad the House showed strong bipartisan support in amending and passing this common-sense bill that tries to solve a problem for health-care workers during this and any future pandemic," Holy said in a news release. "Health-care workers face a serious, immediate threat when they have to treat patients with infectious diseases. When we have a health-care crisis of this magnitude here in Washington and throughout the nation, we need to take care of the people who are being asked to help take care of the public."
The bill returns to the Senate, which must decide whether to concur, or agree, with the House's changes to the proposal before the measure heads to the governor's desk. Eastern Washington House members voting no were 4th District representatives Rob Chase and Bob McCaslin along with 9th district representatives Mary Dye and Joe Schmick.
Foreclosure protection bill passes Senate
Rep. Mike Volz's (R-Spokane) bill to provide protection to property taxpayers from unnecessary foreclosures due to excessive penalties and interest rates meanwhile was approved by the Senate on a 49-0 vote April 5. Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1410 would temporarily eliminate penalties on delinquent property taxes for all properties, permanently eliminate penalties on delinquent property taxes for residential parcels with four or fewer units and reduce interest on delinquent property taxes to 9 percent for residential parcels with four or fewer units.
The legislation lowers the delinquent property tax interest rate on residential homes from 12% to 9% and eliminates late payment penalties. Volz, who also serves as the Chief Deputy Treasurer for Spokane County, said the minor changes made in the Senate were acceptable and the House of Representatives should concur without delay.
"The Senate excluded commercial and large residential properties. I'm ok with this," he said. "The main goal is to get to the families and individuals struggling to pay their mortgages. Giving them some small relief by eliminating the late fees and removing the usury interest rates can mean the difference between finally catching up with their payments or being made homeless."
The bill also would take effect Jan. 1, 2022, giving counties time to plan for the changes and implement the new interest and penalty structure.
Graham proposes legal counsel for violent crime victims
Legislation introduced in the state House of Representatives April 10 by Rep. Jenny Graham (R-Spokane) would require the courts to provide legal counsel to victims of violent crime and other felony offenses. House Bill 1573 would require the courts to provide legal counsel to any victim of a felony offense if the victim is unable to afford counsel, if the expense of counsel would result in a substantial financial hardship, or the victim does not have practical access to funds to pay for legal counsel.
Graham, said she has been thinking of proposing this legislation for several months. The final straw, she said, was the general dismissive attitude in the Legislature this year towards violent crime victims and the continued preferential treatment of criminals.
"I'm just shocked at how far the pendulum has swung toward coddling criminals and ignoring crime victims," said Graham. "We've seen so many bills pass the House and Senate that give criminals preferential treatment, reduce their sentences, ignore previous offenses and let them back into our communities early and unsupervised. The deck is stacked against the crime victims, now, and that needs to change."
Graham said she knows her legislation has little chance of passing this year as the 105-day 2021 session is scheduled to end in just over two weeks. However, her bill will have a head start heading into the next legislative session and, Graham said, she will continue to work on the proposal throughout the interim.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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